Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2012\/08\/image007.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html\",\"name\":\"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3","description":"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3","og_description":"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/exploringourmatrix\/files\/2012\/08\/image007.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html","name":"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-06T13:25:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed literalism, and their focus on facts","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13264\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":13264,"date":"2013-03-06T08:25:13","date_gmt":"2013-03-06T13:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=13264"},"modified":"2013-03-06T08:25:13","modified_gmt":"2013-03-06T13:25:13","slug":"jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2013\/03\/jesus-and-paul-were-not-literalists-when-it-comes-to-genesis-2-3.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus and Paul were not Literalists when it comes to Genesis 2-3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It is interesting how some modern readers simply assume that ancient individuals and authors shared their supposed<\/a> literalism<\/a>, and their focus on facts and history and science, all of which are thoroughly modern concerns.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ If we look at what Jesus is depicted as saying about Genesis 2 in the Synoptic Gospels<\/a>, he points to the story about God making two people out of one, and then goes on to talk (as Genesis<\/a> does) about two becoming <\/em>one flesh. Not literally being, but becoming. And then, even though it is a story that is literally <\/em>about the rejoining of what God has cleaved asunder, the conclusion drawn is the opposite, that what God has joined<\/em> no human being should cleave asunder.<\/p>\n

That is not literalism. Quite the opposite, in fact. It is an interpretation that appreciates the story's symbolism.<\/p>\n

So too Paul illustrates his lack of interest in the literal details of Genesis 3. In that story, sin could be said to enter the world through two people<\/a>. Yet Paul says in Romans 5<\/a> \u201cby\/through one man.\u201d He is reading the Adam story a particular way, as a foil to the story of Christ.<\/p>\n

Once again, that is not literalism. It is a reading for which the literal details of the story are of less importance than the symbolism that Paul wishes to draw out from it.<\/p>\n

This is very clear when one reads the text<\/a> in a manner informed by ancient conventions<\/a> of writing, reading, and interpretation<\/a>. The only reason it seems to some modern readers that Jesus and Paul were literalists is our tendency to assume that those we consider authorities say what we think they ought to say.<\/p>\n

I strongly recommend<\/a> taking a closer look<\/a>. Jesus and Paul were literally not literalists.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"